Toward a Nature Positive Future for the Water Sector

Integrating natural capital into strategy, design and decision-making

In today’s world, embracing nature isn’t just a choice — it’s a necessity.

As biodiversity loss from climate change and human activities accelerates, we must weave nature into every decision we make. Around 50% of Australia and New Zealand’s (ANZ) national gross domestic product depends on it.

In the water sector, treating natural capital as a valuable asset is both a business imperative and a vital step toward more resilient, adaptive and responsible operations.

Developed in partnership with Jacobs, this paper explores how a natural capital approach – framing nature as a core business asset – helps water utilities make informed decisions, manage environmental risks and enhance sustainability. It shares lessons from the U.K.’s policy and practice landscape and offers specific recommendations for water utilities in ANZ.

Lessons from the U.K.

As water utilities adopt a natural capital approach, they can learn from the U.K.’s challenges and successes. The U.K. has led efforts since 2012 to use natural capital as a tool for biodiversity and environmental outcomes, supported by comprehensive policy and legislation.

Drawing on this experience, the paper highlights key insights for ANZ water utilities. These include:

• Incorporating ecosystem services into water resources planning and development decisions leads to positive outcomes for water management.
• Understanding the baseline of impact and dependency on nature is the first step for transitioning to nature positive future.
• Local context, including legislative frameworks, ecological characteristics, community dynamics and cultural values, influences how projects and initiatives are planned, managed and executed.
• By adopting a natural capital approach, public bodies and businesses can better identify, appraise, design and deliver projects and programs that serve their primary functions while also generating nature focused outcomes and co-benefits.
• Valuing natural capital can unlock new funding and partnership opportunities, particularly within the water sector.

Key recommendations

As climate change and biodiversity loss intensify, integrating nature into decision-making becomes essential. The paper recommends that utilities:

• Conduct comprehensive assessments of natural capital dependencies and impacts
• Foster cross-sector collaboration and partnerships
• Integrate indigenous knowledge
• Develop robust nature-positive strategies aligned with financial disclosures

By implementing these measures, water utilities in Australia and New Zealand can become champions of nature-positive development, supporting resilient water systems, healthier ecosystems and thriving communities for future generations

Download the paper here

This paper was developed in collaboration with Jacobs as part of our shared commitment to advancing nature-positive solutions in the water sector.